“Excuse me, but could show us where-

Hey!

I’m speaking to you!” Lyra fumes, as the person swiftly brushes past her.

“The people out here are weird,” Apollo observes,

“What do you mean ‘out here’?” Pinoki snorts

“We are still in Soterra,

Soterra’s outskirts to be precise, the people here must have heard rumours of what happened within the city walls they fear we may convert them,”

“That’s dumb,” Lyra sates

“Thank you for that ground-breaking opinion, Lyra” I taunt

“Aww!”

She kicks me on the shin

“I don’t appreciate the sarcasm,”

“What’s her problem?” I whisper to Pinoki

“She’s probably still emotional after Zinnia told us her pregnancy yesterday,”

“Wait?”

“She told you all already?”

“You say that as if she told you before us,” Lyra answers, overhearing us

“I already err, figured it out myself, and confronted her about it,

I thought she wasn’t ready to say anything, after all that’s happened,

She wants to make Soterra a better place for her and Darius’ child,

I even accepted her request,”

“What request?” Apollo queries,

“She asked me to take Lyra with us”

“Huh!?” Lyra croaks,

“So, I’m a charity case?”

“No-”

“-I’m going back!” she turns around angrily,

“Lyra wait no!?” I grab her,

“Take your patronizing hand off me Kage!

I’m clearly unwanted here!”

(This girl is impossible)

“Lyra wait!

………….

I’m scared,

Scared to travel alone, I don’t know what’s out here,

That’s why I brought you all with me,

I’m not strong, I can’t….

…. No, I don’t want to get captured, or put back in the position I was before I ended up here,

I can’t do this alone,

I don’t want you here is right, because I need you,”

………..

“Greaaatt,” Pinoki mutters under his breath,

“It hasn’t even been a day yet and Lyra is already being self-destructive, and Kage emotionally inconsistent,”

“Emotionally inconsistent?”

“Don’t think you’re the only one who quietly observes things, Kage,

I’ve noticed how your always constantly switch moods within minutes of each other,

One minute your quiet and broody, next you’re oversharing fears to Lyra,”

“He is inconsistent, is he?” Lyra agrees re-joining the group as if nothing had just happened

(Look who’s talking)

“So where are we going exactly?” Apollo changing the topic,

“Well, since the map we currently have is pretty limited, the only place we can go is Furlheim city,” Pinoki replies,

“Anyone know anything about Furlheim city?” I ask,

“I know my mother moved there before returning to the kingdom to have me,” Apollo speaks up, “that’s about it,

Even though our people in Soterra are pretty closed off, she was one of the few to branch out,”

……

The sky today a clear blue, allowing the sun the blast its full force upon us we trudge through the outskirts of Soterra, we encountered many smaller settlements in the area but never stopped to visit, as the four of us all eagerly await our exit of this area.

****

“I think this is where Soterra ends,” Pinoki’s eyes glued to the map,

“If we follo-”

“-Let’s go that way,” Lyra points, heading towards a column of trees up ahead,

…..

“It’s really cool in here,” she comments entering the area surrounded by lush trees, their leaves overlap with each other above us, blocking the now evening sunlight from reaching the space below, a spring erupting water patters cheerfully as if inviting us in,

“Maybe we should set up camp here,” Apollo advises peering at the sky,

“The sun will be setting soon,

Plus, my feet hurt.”

…………

Bzzzz, bzzzzz!

A mosquito buzzes annoyingly by ear

Slap!

Trying to hit it I smack myself hard on the face,

“…” Lyra’s lips curl into a smile, she quickly turns so I won’t notice,

The night now setting in, the four of us sit around a campfire under the cover of the trees,

“Don’t tell me that bag was heavy you because packed it full of rice, Pinoki? Apollo notes watching Pinoki unpack the supplies,

“What’s the problem?

I’ve been reading up about what food can last for long, we don’t know how long we’ll be traveling for,

I also packed an abundance of beans and flour as well,

That way we can survive for a few weeks at most,”

“Ugghh” Lyra groans, “I’m really going to die of eating infinite amounts of beans and rice by the end of this,”

“Don’t be so cynical about things,

There’s water and flour too….”

…….

Crack!

…?

A branch breaks behind me,

(Is someone else here?)

“Are there any dangerous animals around here?” I caution to the group

“No clue,” Apollo yawns, “even if there was, I can handle it,”

(Maybe I’m just being paranoid)

“Thought~you~could~run~away~from~me!”

A voice hisses in my ear,

“Who’s there!” I shout alarmingly drawing my bow,

“No one’s there Kage, calm down,” Lyra assures,

“You didn’t hear that?”

“No, didn’t see anything either,”

“Are you sure Lyra!?” The voice now booms around us,

Apollo jumps up gripping his sword,

“Show yourself!” he demands

“I won’t ask twice!”

“Or else what!?”

Vwzing!

Apollo swings the sword horizontally sending shockwave around the area

“The next one will be much worse,” he threats

“Huhh, fine!” The voice sighs,

“I’ve had enough fun, I guess I’ll reveal myself now,”

The voice transitions from being raspy to a familiar feminine voice as a certain woman emerges from behind the thick bush,

“Karina?” I say relievedly sitting back down next to the fire,

“You followed us?” Lyra sounds somewhat pleased,

Karina sighs again slumping down next to me, dropping a bag she carried down, Pinoki slides curiously towards the pack.

“I can’t believe you left without telling me anything,” Karina complains,

“Last I saw you was about two weeks ago, when you were in my room that time,

You disappear mysteriously without telling anyone where you go, it’s not like I knew where to find you,” I explain

“I’ve been in the villages around the city, I couldn’t stay in there any longer,

I saw you four travelling together earlier, so I followed you,”

“And the thought of just calling out to us never once crossed your mind?” I say annoyed,

“It did, but I’d rather surprise you….”.

…. “Daggers, more daggers, magic stones, a bottle of water,

That’s it?” Pinoki critiques, emptying the contents of Karina’s bag,

“How exactly were you planning on surviving with these?”

“Hmmm,

Step one, use the daggers to hunt animals, step two drink the water,

Is that good enough for you?” Karina drawls

“Don’t tell me you’re still ‘using the magic stones,” Apollo probes,

“No, I’m practising ‘general magic’ with them,”

“General magic?” I inquire beginning to search for the book on magic,

“Its magic that isn’t specific to any one attribute,” Pinoki hands me the book,

“How did you get this ba-”

“-Magic that anyone can use, healing magic sealing, illusions,” He continues

“I’ve been using sealing magic, by imbuing my soundwave magic into gems I can communicate from long distances, before when I just had sound, magic I could only communicate with one person and I had to be close by, now I can do it with many,” Karina explains,

“Sounds like wireless technology,” I comment,

“Here you go again with these made-up words,” Lyra chortles,

“All because you don’t want to tell us what magic your bow uses,”

“It’s not made up,” I defend, “I’ve been trying to explain it you, ‘the prototype’ is technology, I think,

So was the blue flame I told you about,”

“We never heard the flame speak like you said you did,” Apollo inputs, “so we just have to take your word for it, Kage,”

“I’m trying to find more, I feel like its connected to me somehow, maybe the person who left the messages can somehow lead me back to where I came from,”

“I’m just here for the adventure Pinoki,” states blankly,

“Hopefully Furlheim city isn’t anything like how Soterra was,” Lyra ponders,

“If it is, we can always get Kage to reduce it to rubble, like he did with our city,” Karina jokes,

“Ha-ha, very funny….”

………..

****.

The night passes by and the now five of us, traverse onward to a city we know nothing of,

The terrain brimming with life happy and unbothered, thrushes sing happily looking down curiously at the strange travellers,

Rarely we would encounter other people, but when we did, they lived in full blend with their surroundings almost like they were roommates with nature itself.

……

“I wonder how far those mountains stretch for, they’ve been directly north ever since we left Soterra,” I say looking north at the cold sliver peaks,

We now travel across a flat moor, the silhouette of buildings can be seen up ahead,

(The city must be close)

“I wonder what secrets lay there” Pinoki speculates,

“Nothing but death I assume,” Lyra replies cynically,

“Awful assumption to make,” Apollo starts,

Bam!

The sound of a clash commands our attention, picking up the pace we head towards the sound

“Shhh!” Karina, in front, orders, noticing human figures,

We cautiously move forward to what looks like an altercation between three people….

“I thought we were going to be fair about this!” One man says as he stumbles bleeding out,

“All is fair in war,” the other two sneer, “taking our competition out one by one is the best chance the ‘coalition’ has at being number one!” the man of the two crows,

“Say hi to your other members for us!” the other figure, a woman sings, grabbing the bleeding man by his face,

His body sets on fire, the other two watch laughing, as he turns to dust,

“That makes-” the woman begins but notices our group

“What are you looking at?”

“Y-” Lyra begins hotly

“-We are merely travellers minding our business,” Pinoki cuts her off

“Would you mind telling us how close umm, Furlheim City is?”

“Huh? Haven’t heard anyone call the city by that name in a while, you’ll see it when you pass this field,” the man responds,

The two don’t seem bothered by us witnessing them murder someone.

“Well, we’ll be on our way.” Pinoki pushes us on eager to escape the sights of these two strange individuals,

“Wait,” the woman calls out,

“Since your obviously newcomers here, I’ll give you some advice,

It would be wise if you allied yourself with an organization, guild or group in the city,

Or you might not survive,”

………….

Leaving the two behind we continue onward,

Karina twirls her dagger nervously,

Lyra walks at a faster pace than usual

Apollo constantly feels his back for Darius’s sword,

Pinoki whistles excitedly,

Even I feel the tension,

Though unsure what awaits us, we know that for sure,

This is going to be interesting.